This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention that is recited in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Certain abbreviations that may be found in the description and/or in the Figures are herewith defined as follows:    AAA authentication authorization accounting center    AUC authentication center    AUTN authentication token    CK confidential key    I-CSCF interrogating call session control function    IK integrity key    IMSI international mobile subscriber identity    HLR home location register    HSS home subscriber server    MAP mobile application part    MCC mobile country code    MCN mobile network code    MNO mobile network operator    OMA_DM open mobile alliance device management    OTA over-the-air    RAN radio access network    RAND random challenge in authentication    SIM subscriber identity module    SMS short message service    SW-SIM software subscriber identity module    VLR visitor location register    VNO visiting network operator    XRES expected response in authentication
The use of mobile equipment in a specific type of mobile network generally requires that the user of the mobile equipment has a subscription. The mobile equipment may be any type of machine enabled to utilize a mobile network provided it has sufficient access credentials. The subscription identifies, among other things, the mobile network, in which the mobile equipment is to be used and the individual settings relating to the subscription. These setting can include a network operator setting and the subscriber identifier of an end user. The user might be an individual user, but may also be a corporation.
According to conventional methods, the subscription data may be recorded on a small chip on which at least memory areas are arranged for protecting the sensitive parts of the aforementioned settings and loading them into the mobile equipment being used. In addition, this subscription data may be encoded on a microcontroller operating as the processor unit for a device. Such a device is generally called a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM). The SIM is usually placed in a compact package generally referred to as a SIM card. The form factor of the SIM may be an embedded chip, a platform mounted chip, a logical unit on a larger processor, a protected memory card or a smart card. The chip may hold one or more sets of subscriptions or applications.
A generally compatible location is arranged for the SIM card in a device, such as mobile equipment, in which contacts studs are arranged to connect the card electrically to the mobile equipment. The general construction of the SIM card includes not only a possible microcontroller, as indicated above, but also various memory devices and auxiliary circuits, which relate to things such controlling data transfer and the power supply.
However, at least one problem exists in the conventional system in that a SIM may not be provided with newly acquired mobile equipment. In this case, a user will have to separately obtain the access credentials for the acquired mobile equipment. This can cause an inconvenience to the user for at least the reason that obtaining either the SIM card or the SIM download may require that the user bring the mobile equipment to a dealer who is associated with an operator of the user's choice. In addition, for costs reasons, design reasons or to reduce a risk of theft, mobile equipment may not be equipped with a card slot. In this case, in order to obtain a the access credentials they would need to be downloaded directly from the preferred operator or else by bringing the mobile equipment to a dealer that is directly connected to that operator. The word SIM data or access credentials can be understood as referring to not only the cryptographic secret but also to the related cryptographic data like an algorithm, and also operator specific settings such as for network access.